The Oamaru Mail FRIDAY, AUGUST 6, 1880.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1319, 6 August 1880, Page 2

The Oamaru Mail FRIDAY, AUGUST 6, 1880.

Tiik Public Works Statement is the piece de promised to be presented to-night at the temple of Parliamentary comedy,; farce, and broad burlesque, spw open in Wellington. Mr. Oliver will be the chief actor, and considerable speculation and no small amount of anxiety are expressed as to the mapper in which he will go through the task. That the taeL is a heavy one few will deny, and we have had auipie evidence of the fact that even Mr. Oliver is doubtful as to the result. The comedy, farce, burlesque, or whatever it may be, lips been in preparar tion for some time and its performance frequently announced, but on each occasion the great actor upon whom all eyes are turned has begged for a little more time for study and rehearsal. And no wonder that he has done so. We are tflld that he has of late been beseiged by a number of authors who had not been permitted to take part in the preparation of the great sensation of the season, begging that their pet " lines " may be embodied in a favorable portion of the text. Almost every part of the Colony lias I its claimant to consideration, and between references to the Auckland-Thames, Wel-lingtop-Foxton, Canterbury interior, and Otago central lines, the poor actor, who tonight is to form the central figure in a stirring scene, is nearly distracted, It 13 said that at first he was inclined to "speak the piece " very muph as originally written by the Royal Commissioners; then he thought he could improve upon it in some directions, and set to work re-writing it to please himself; then some of his brother : actora, all of whom—though on a " starring " engagement—being colleagues of the greater satellite of the eight, consented to take minor parts, wanted their Utile alterations, and of course they were gratified; next came the supers, or general supporters of the "stars," and after them followed the host of authors before mentioned, a multitude of friends, advisers, counsellers, beggars, &c., all njgking suggestions or urging some particular point, J?e£ween the host of suggestions, demands, and requests, that he has had to attend to it is not surprising that Mr. Oliver should find himself in a perfect state or bewilderment, his ideas confused, his mind distracted from the great object, and his breast filled with terrible misgivings. That his performance will not give satisfaction to the whole of the public we are convinced, that it will give rise to a vast amount of clamor we are equally certain, and that he will be greeted at the close of the performance with a howl of indignation from the disappointed ones we can safely predict. But the performance will soon commence, and we must prepare ourselves for its delights or disappointments.